destroyed; and the Lord fasted forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. All these fastings, it is evident, are connected with states of temptations, and signify, that when man is in those states, he cannot appropriate the goods of love and the truths of faith; hence Swedenborg says,

"When man is in temptations, the goods of love, and the truths of faith are not then appropriated to him, but afterwards; for whilst temptations continue, on one part are excited evils and the falses of evils, and on the other, goods and the truths of good which appertain to man; hence he is in a turbulent state. In this state the internal is opened; but after temptation he hath serenity, in which state goods and the truths of good are brought in by the Lord into the internal now open. Hence it is evident what is meant by the non-appropriation of the good of love, and of the truth of faith during the continuance of temptations, which is signified by Moses not eating bread and not drinking water for forty days and forty nights.”—(A. C. 10,686.)

Although fasting was not commanded in the Levitical law, yet we find, that in cases of great calamity the Jews observed a fast. Thus when the people of Israel were defeated by the men of Ai, (Joshua vii. 6.) they remained prostrate before the ark from morning till evening, without eating. And when the Israelites were pressed by the Philistínes, they assembled before the Lord at Mispeh, and fasted until the evening. (1 Sam. vii. 6.) Fasting, therefore, was practised as an emblem of mourning and humiliation, and consequently of temptations. Hence the Psalmist says,-"I humbled my soul with fasting and prayer." (xxxv. 13. See also Psalm lxix. 10.)

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When we examine what is said in the New Testament on fasting, we find it referred to by the Lord in his sermon on the mount: “But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (Matt. vi. 17, 18.) To anoint the head and to wash the face" is to prepare the internal mind, by resisting evils in the external, for the reception of divine goodness and truth from the Lord. But when fasting is observed as an external only, and not accompanied with internal purification, by self-examination, and by the actual removal, through repentance, of evil as sin against God, we are then "as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, who disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast." We read in Luke that they said unto the Lord: "Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken

away from them, and then shall they fast in those days." (Chap. v. 33-35.) There are three kinds of disciples here mentioned: the disciples of the Lord; the disciples of John; and the disciples of the Pharisees. The Lord's disciples are the real internal, spiritually-minded, members of the church; John's disciples are the honest-hearted external members of the church, who are on the way to become internal and spiritual; but the disciples of the Pharisees are the hypocritical members of the church, who "are like whited sepulchres, appearing indeed beautiful without, but within are full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness." (Matt. xxiii. 27.) Now the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees are represented as fasting, but the Lord's disciples as eating and drinking. Because when we are in external states, undergoing temptations and purification, we are with John in the wilderness, of which state fasting is predicated; when the Lord, as the bridegroom, although really is not consciously present, and we are not able to appropriate divine goodness from Him until the temptation is over, and the purification is accomplished; when the internal spiritual mind is opened, and we become the Lord's disciples indeed, receiving and appropriating from Him his divine grace, mercy, and truth, eating and drinking "the feast of fat things, and the wine well refined,” which he in his Humanity is ever ready to give to all who come unto Him. Thus the children of the bridechamber cannot fast so long as the bridegroom is with them.

Fasting, then, is a practice of the external church; and as we are all more or less external, fasting, when properly considered, has its uses for all. "It is not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth the man;” but the internal man can only operate into the external so as to produce its salutary and blessed effects from the Lord, when the bodily appetites are kept in proper subjection, and when the activities of the external man are under the government of principles in the internal. Now fasting is one of the means of aiding this desirable state, and when we fast as the disciples of John, the way in the wilderness of our natural minds is more effectually prepared for the coming and reception of the Lord Himself into our souls, to make us his disciples indeed, when fasting will no longer be required, and when the children of the bridechamber will no longer fast and lament.

Man, as to his soul, is constantly appropriating to himself either good from the Lord, or evil from hell. If he is in a state of regeneration, he receives and appropriates good from the Lord; "he eats his flesh and drinks his blood!" His divine love denoted by his flesh becomes the life of man; and his divine wisdom signified by his blood, is the light of

destroyed; and the Lord fasted forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. All these fastings, it is evident, are connected with states of temptations, and signify, that when man is in those states, he cannot appropriate the goods of love and the truths of faith; hence Swedenborg says,―

"When man is in temptations, the goods of love, and the truths of faith are not then appropriated to him, but afterwards; for whilst temptations continue, on one part are excited evils and the falses of evils, and on the other, goods and the truths of good which appertain to man; hence he is in a turbulent state. In this state the internal is opened; but after temptation he hath serenity, in which state goods and the truths of good are brought in by the Lord into the internal now open. Hence it is evident what is meant by the non-appropriation of the good of love, and of the truth of faith during the continuance of temptations, which is signified by Moses not eating bread and not drinking water for forty days and forty nights."—(A.C. 10,686.)

Although fasting was not commanded in the Levitical law, yet we find, that in cases of great calamity the Jews observed a fast. Thus when the people of Israel were defeated by the men of Ai, (Joshua vii. 6.) they remained prostrate before the ark from morning till evening, without eating. And when the Israelites were pressed by the Philistines, they assembled before the Lord at Mispeh, and fasted until the evening. (1 Sam. vii. 6.) Fasting, therefore, was practised as an emblem of mourning and humiliation, and consequently of temptations. Hence the Psalmist says, "I humbled my soul with fasting and prayer." (xxxv. 13. See also Psalm lxix. 10.)

When we examine what is said in the New Testament on fasting, we find it referred to by the Lord in his sermon on the mount: But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." (Matt. vi. 17, 18.) "To anoint the head and to wash the face" is to prepare the internal mind, by resisting evils in the external, for the reception of divine goodness and truth from the Lord. But when fasting is observed as an external only, and not accompanied with internal purification, by self-examination, and by the actual removal, through repentance, of evil as sin against God, we are then as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, who disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast." We read in Luke that they said unto the Lord: "Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken

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away from them, and then shall they fast in those days." (Chap. v. 33-35.) There are three kinds of disciples here mentioned: the disciples of the Lord; the disciples of John; and the disciples of the Pharisees. The Lord's disciples are the real internal, spiritually-minded, members of the church; John's disciples are the honest-hearted external members of the church, who are on the way to become internal and spiritual; but the disciples of the Pharisees are the hypocritical members of the church, who are like whited sepulchres, appearing indeed beautiful without, but within are full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness." (Matt. xxiii. 27.) Now the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees are represented as fasting, but the Lord's disciples as eating and drinking. Because when we are in external states, undergoing temptations and purification, we are with John in the wilderness, of which state fasting is predicated; when the Lord, as the bridegroom, although really is not consciously present, and we are not able to appropriate divine goodness from Him until the temptation is over, and the purification is accomplished; when the internal spiritual mind is opened, and we become the Lord's disciples indeed, receiving and appropriating from Him his divine grace, mercy, and truth, eating and drinking "the feast of fat things, and the wine well refined," which he in his Humanity is ever ready to give to all who come unto Him. Thus the children of the bridechamber cannot fast so long as the bridegroom is with them.

Fasting, then, is a practice of the external church; and as we are all more or less external, fasting, when properly considered, has its uses for all. "It is not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth the man;" but the internal man can only operate into the external so as to produce its salutary and blessed effects from the Lord, when the bodily appetites are kept in proper subjection, and when the activities of the external man are under the government of principles in the internal. Now fasting is one of the means of aiding this desirable state, and when we fast as the disciples of John, the way in the wilderness of our natural minds is more effectually prepared for the coming and reception of the Lord Himself into our souls, to make us his disciples indeed, when fasting will no longer be required, and when the children of the bridechamber will no longer fast and lament.

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Man, as to his soul, is constantly appropriating to himself either good from the Lord, or evil from hell. If he is in a state of regeneration, he receives and appropriates good from the Lord; he eats his flesh and drinks his blood!" His divine love denoted by his flesh becomes the life of man; and his divine wisdom signified by his blood, is the light of

that life. Hence man has genuine charity, or love, and a genuine saving faith working by that love. Hence he is spiritually-minded, which is life and peace. But when he is in states of sin and impenitence, he receives and appropriates evil and its attendant falsity from hell. He eateth the "husks which the swine do feed upon," and "he drinketh iniquity like water." When a man is in spiritual temptations, evils and falses from hell, or evil spirits, are tempting him to receive and appropriate their infernal food, which, if it prove, as it should do, the "gall of bitterness" to his taste, is rejected, and man refuses the deadly thing; he chooses life and not death; the blessing, and not the curse. This state arises when the evils of our fallen nature, acted upon by evil spirits, incline, allure, and tempt us to indulge their tendencies and propensities, and to carry them out into life and practice. For "every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed: then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James i. 14, 15.) Now, when man is in this state, he is represented as fasting; for he will not appropriate to himself evils from hell, nor can he receive good from the Lord; but when the temptation is over, he hungers, and "blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Hence the Lord, after he had fasted in the wilderness, "was a hungered," to denote that he could then appropriate in his Humanity the infinite divine goodness itself.

That fasting has a spiritual signification, and when mentioned in the Word is intended to prepare us for the reception of spiritual things from the Lord, especially for the reception of his love, that we may lead a life of real charity and faith, is evident from Isaiah lviii. 6, 7, 8: "Is not this the fast which I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.”

APEX.

CHRISTIAN MARTYRDOM.

THE utility of verbal criticism, in reference to the broad bearing of practical Christianity, is of very limited extent. The thousands and tens